“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”

– Desiderata

I cannot believe another weekend is here. My “easy” week flew by in a flash. Now I am gearing up for my trip home next Tuesday so things automatically feel a smidge more hectic. That and on top of the fact that I have an 10K in the park tomorrow morning and then joining D on her first 10K Sunday morning across the GWBridge. My weekend is going to be amazing!

I have had a few interesting conversations recently. Between 2 of my close friends and an interview I did with a college student who is planning to move here to become an actress, I have noticed a lot of talk about confidence. It is no surprise that we all struggle from time to time with being comfortable in our own skin, forging our own path, or grabbing all of our inner courage and charging when faced with an obstacle. It seems to me that we have no problem pointing out the reasons things wouldn’t go our way, but we have a difficult time telling ourselves we deserve the credit, the opportunity to try and the good that could happen.

So my challenge is this: just for a day or a weekend, realize you are worth it. Take a moment to look in the mirror, confess that you truly are a work in progress, and every step you take is yours and only yours. The “not so great” things happen to force us to grow, but it doesn’t mean that it is because we are undeserving of the good. Just by being on this planet we have earned the right to try. We have a responsibility to the planet, each other and ourselves to put a little love into these relationships. We each are worthy of greatness and should give ourselves a little room to grow confidence. It isn’t about cockiness or over-inflated egos…it is about care and love.